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Always Halloween and Never Thanksgiving

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Halloween 2020, Day 17

If you’re looking for a truly beautiful and meaningful work to read this October, then try this first novel from one of my favorite authors, Lipan Apache wordsmith Darcie Little Badger. This is not a work about Halloween, but with magic and monsters, murder and ghosts, it’s perfect for the season.  In fact, it’s perfect, full stop. By page four, Elatsoe had me: “She could handle mundane dangers, like violent men with guns or knives, but every tunnel, bridge, and abandoned building in the city was allegedly home to monsters. She’d heard whispers about clans of teenage-bodied vampires, carnivorous mothmen, immortal serial killers, devil cults, cannibal families, and slenderpeople.” What genius is this? And don’t get me started on the scarecrows with real human eyes. Or Kirby the ghost dog, the best boy ever. Or the locals who stare at strangers. Or Teddy Roosevelt. Here is the official description of Elatsoe: “Imagine an America very similar to our own. It’s got homework, best friends, and pistachio ice cream. There are some differences. This America been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and should never see the light of day. Elatsoe lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her beloved cousin has just been murdered, in a town that wants no prying eyes. But she is going to do more than pry. The picture-perfect facade of Willowbee masks gruesome secrets, and she will rely on her wits, skills, and friends to tear off the mask and protect her family.” 
I can’t recommend this young-adult novel highly enough (for YA and adult readers alike). I laughed and I cried; I also punched the air in triumph three separate times. I want to foist this book on everyone I know.  Here is a taste: - from Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger (2020)  You can read a longer excerpt from Elatsoe here and access a Q&A with Darcie Little Badger and see related videos here. You can also find links to some of Darcie Little Badger’s spooky online short stories on her website here. The book is gorgeously illustrated by artist Rovina Cai. 

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Halloween 2020, Day 7

(Photo by Yours Truly. Poe by Dellamorteco.)  On this day in 1849 – 171 years ago – Edgar Allan Poe died at the age of forty under mysterious circumstances. For more information, read “Mysterious for Evermore” by Matthew Pearl, an article on Poe’s death from The Telegraph. Pearl is the author of a fascinating novel about the subject, The Poe Shadow. (Photo by Yours Truly.) The following are some of my favorite links about Edgar Allan Poe:
PoeStories.com: An Exploration of Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe Poe-Land: The Hallowed Haunts of Edgar Allan Poe (I highly recommend this book by J.W. Ocker, and I suggest that you enter “Poe” into the Search feature at his Odd Things I’ve Seen site, as well, for many Poe-riffic posts!) The Poe Museum of Richmond The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore Hocus Pocus Comics is Poe-centric to the max, and I invite you to visit the site! In addition, check out this beautiful time-lapse video of David Hartman drawing an exclusive Kickstarter cover for The Imaginary Voyages of Edgar Allan Poe – and subscribe to the Hocus Pocus Comics YouTube channel while you’re at it!   The Caedmon recordings – that’s 5 hours of Edgar Allan Poe stories read by Vincent Price & Basil Rathbone – are now available on Spotify (download the software here). (Thanks, Jessica!) And now, here is one of my favorite readings of Poe: Gabriel Byrne’s narration of the pandemic-relevant and all-too-timely “The Masque of the Red Death.” – from “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe (1842). Read the complete story here. 
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The House of Night, Watchmen, and the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921

In my latest “Looking Back on Genre History” segment on the new episode of the StarShipSofa podcast, I talk about Ray Bradbury’s concept of science fiction as a “reflecting shield” by discussing The House of Night, Watchmen, and the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921. You can listen here. 
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Halloween 2020, Day 26

I am so delighted and grateful that @OGOMProject put a vintage 1978 book on my radar this year: The Dracula Cookbook: Authentic Recipes from the Homeland of Count Dracula by Marina Polvay. I was able to find a copy in good shape, and it’s a treasure. If you’d like some festive and spooky mood reading, here is the introduction to the section on “Wines & Special Drinks”: And here are a couple of recipes, in case you like the warm, red stuff (but not in a vampiric kind of way):  The Count and the Bride seem to enjoy it. 
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Halloween 2020, Day 14

For today I have some great lists of Halloween-appropriate reading for younger readers as well as scary-story lovers of all ages. First, from Angie Manfredi: “Shivers & Shudders: Scary Middle Grade Books.”
Second, from the Spooky KidLit site (“Celebrating the kids’ books that go bump in the night.”), two lists: “Celebrating Black Authors, Part 1″ and “Celebrating Black Authors, Part 2.” One of the stellar books recommended in two of the lists above is The Forgotten Girl by India Hill Brown (2019), and here’s a haunting little taste: You can read a longer excerpt from The Forgotten Girl here.  And here’s some great news! The Forgotten Girl is one of four books being adapted for television: “Scholastic Entertainment to Develop ‘JumpScare’ Kids Animated Horror Series With ‘Ben 10’ Team.”
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Halloween 2020, Day 11

(Photo by Yours Truly. Skulls from Toscano.) Today I bring you several recent articles that are perfect for getting into the Halloween spirit.  1. From Danielle Trussoni for The New York Times: “Grisly Slabs of Gothic Horror.”  2. From Marc E. Fitch for CrimeReads: “Literature Is Built on a Foundation of Horror.”   3. From Dr. Sam Hirst for Tor.com: “More Thrilling than Fiction: The Real Life Heroines of the Early Gothic.” One of the heroines mentioned in the article above is Mary Darby Robinson (1758-1800). Here is an excerpt from her poem “The Haunted Beach” from Lyrical Tales (1800): Read the complete poem here.
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Halloween 2020, Day 4

Halloween 2020, Day 4 – from The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf (2020) This year I fell in love with the middle-grade novel The Girl and the Ghost, which is based on Malaysian folktales about the pelesit, a shape-shifting spirit bound to serve a single master. In the novel, young Suraya inherits such a ghost from her witch grandmother and learns that this pelesit is loyal – and jealous. Hanna Alkaf offers genuine chills as well as laughs, but most importantly she delivers a thought-provoking, heart-warming, life-affirming story of loss, grief, friendship, and family. The characters feel so real!  Don’t let the middle-grade classification of this story fool you; The Girl and the Ghost has much to offer readers of all ages, including plenty of ghosts, graveyards, and spookiness. You can read a longer excerpt from The Girl and the Ghost here or listen to sample from the audiobook here.     View the full article  
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Halloween 2020, Day 21

(Photo by Elizabeth. See the original source here.)  - from “Since I Died” by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, originally in Scribner’s Monthly (February 1873), as published in Avenging Angels: Ghost Stories by Victorian Women Writers edited by Melissa Edmundson (2018)   
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Join me in SPACE!

I’m delighted to be joining SPACE (Signum Adult Portals for Adult Continuing Education) online with Signum University. My upcoming modules in early 2024 include The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand, and The Last Man by Mary Shelley. I hope to see you in SPACE! Registration is now open for January’s module, The Haunting of Hill House. More information on my offered modules is here. ALT
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I’m excited to say that in Summer 2021, I will boldly go where no Signum University prof has...

I’m excited to say that in Summer 2021, I will boldly go where no Signum University prof has gone before! I will be offering the 12-week online class “Exploring Star Trek” for M.A. students and non-degree-seeking auditors alike. I’m delighted at this opportunity! I’m pleased to announce that we will have a very special guest at one meeting of the “Exploring Star Trek” Signum University class in Summer 2021: New York Times bestselling author Una McCormack! What a delight this will be! The catalog page for the “Exploring Star Trek” class is now available. See the link below! Exploring Star Trek
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31 Days of Dark Academia: Halloween 2021

October 1: Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson (1951) Quote: Poor things, she thought - do they have to spend all this energy just to surround me? It seemed pitiful that these automatons should be created and wasted, never knowing more than a minor fragment of the pattern in which they were involved, to learn and follow through insensitively a tiny step in the great dance which was seen close up as the destruction of Natalie, and far off, as the end of the world. They had all earned their deaths, Natalie thought…
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Halloween 2020, Day 19

(Art is “Halloween 2019″ by jackthetab.)
Sadie Hartmann has a fantastic suggested Halloween reading list here at LitReactor: “Halloween 2020 Reading List.”  Two other books to that deserve to be on any list include the new Weird anthologies from Handheld Press, British Weird: Selected Short Fiction, 1893-1937 edited by James Machin and Women’s Weird 2: More Strange Stories by Women, 1891-1937 edited by Melissa Edmundson. And guess what? Next week, you can take part in the book launch for these two volumes online for free! Weird book launch: Tuesday, 27th October 2020
At 19.30 UK time / 13.30 EST on Tuesday, 27th October, Handheld Press be hosting a Zoom book launch for our two new Weird anthologies, British Weird, edited by James Machin, and Women’s Weird  2, edited by Melissa Edmundson. Kate Macdonald of Handheld Press will be moderating. To sign up to attend this online book launch, go here for details! (Photo by Yours Truly.)
- from “‘Ghosties and Ghoulies’: Uses of the Supernatural in English Fiction” by Mary Butts (1913) in British Weird: Selected Short Fiction, 1893-1937, edited by James Machin
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31 Days of Dark Academia: Halloween 2021

31 Days of Dark Academia: Halloween 2021 October 4: Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay (1967) Quote: The girl so far had remembered nothing of her experiences on the Rock; nor, in Doctor McKenzie’s opinion or that of the two eminent special­ists from Sydney and Melbourne, would she ever remember. A portion of the delicate mechanism of the brain appeared to be irrevocably damaged.  “Like a clock, you know,” the doctor explained. “A clock that stops under a certain set of unusual conditions and refuses ever to go again beyond a particular point.”
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Halloween 2020, Day 6

(Art is “The Innocent Abandoned” by ExDolore.)
For today’s spooky reading recommendation list, check out “Five Haunted House Books Written By Women” by Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson for Tor.com.  Here is an eerie snippet from one of the novels in the list, The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike (U.S. edition 2016). A longer excerpt is available online from Macmillan here.
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